Fun And Games At Unadilla

FUN AND GAMES AT UNADILLA

MIKKOLA DOES THE DEED FOR HUSKY

JOHN WAASER

AMA PROFESSIONAL series motocrosses are quite a bit different from your average weekly shindig in Farmer Brown's field. From a promoter's standpoint, you have to admit they're making it easier to hold a motocross. Only 80 or so riders, in two classes, with the course only used once or twice a year, drawing a huge crowd, is a neat way to go. The ground has plenty of chance to settle between events, and with the small turnout, very little dust control is necessary.

If you expected a flurry of weekend activity from early Saturday morning, you would have been disappointed at Unadilla. The first incident of note occurred well into Saturday morning, when Jimmy Weinert drove up in his motor home. His father took a look, and saw a hippie-type with long, stringy, dark hair driving the rig. It didn’t look like any of Jimmy’s friends that he knew of. When the hippie got out of the motor home, it turned out to be Jimmy himself. The biggest clue was the fact that Jimmy’s hair was never that dark. It was a wig, purposely contrived to look as scruffy as possible. “Here, put it on,” Jimmy urged his father. “No, that thing’s got lice,” came the quick reply.

A look at the machinery showed some pretty trick stuff for the factory riders—one C-Z rider even indicated that the Husqvarnas had 360cc upper ends on 125cc lower ends, though the Husky camp thought that was pretty ridiculous. But factory bikes in both camps looked rather unlike anything you or I could buy. And the attention to detail was rather incredible. Everybody who was serious at all had full workshop facilities in their vans—generally to an even greater extent than you’ll find at a dirt track or road race national.

The nod for the neatest piece of maintenance equipment there would have to go to Bultaco, for their unique bike stand; it brought the bike up to a convenient working height, and was capable of raising either end for any sort of maintenance which required it. They had a trailer there, patterned after the one used by Gary Bailey, with full workshop facilities. But they left their> X-rated mechanic, Fritz the Cat, home this week, and even Billy Dutcher, one of the head honchos at Cemoto East, went sailing instead of watching the factory effort at the Grand Prix.

Improvements to the PA system had it reaching the farthest corners of the track, but reports indicated that there were places where it could not be heard. Crowd control was excellent, and press passes were the only thing which would let anybody other than an official into the infield. Press Director Morris Alpern bragged that they only printed 75 press passes, and still had 8 or 10 left after the weekend. Programs had been printed up, and even members of the press had to pay for them. Rene Bruneel, here from Belgium to observe the event for the FIM, required two copies of the program for his report. “I think that can be arranged,” said an AMA official. “...And one for me,” added Mr. Bruneel. The official admitted he might have trouble obtaining even the one extra program.

Mr. Bruneel was well received by everyone connected with the event; he was his country’s motocross champ back around 1950, and really knew what he was looking for. Still in superb condition, he reminded one a lot of an older Joel Robert. The purpose of an FIM observer here was an attempt to obtain a points-paying Grand Prix for next year, to join the open class G.P. at Carlsbad. The Canadians are also attempting to obtain a points-paying 250cc Grand Prix not far from Unadilla, and they will request an adjacent date to the Unadilla event, which should entice more Europeans, both riders and spectators, to make the trip. I can see it now. Edison Dye will offer a Super Glide for the price of the bike; the vacation will be free. For those who don’t desire a Super Glide, a Can-Am woods bike will be offered. Hurry, sign up before it’s too late.

The Unadilla track has been called the finest in the United States by some. Mick Andrews helped lay it out in 1969, and at that time, it was unquestionably the finest in the country. Just over a mile long, it incorporates several offcamber turns, a jump down into a gully and back up the other side (known as Screw-U by the riders), and several hills so steep they are virtually impossible to make in the rain—and there has never been a race here without at least a little rain. The course is wide, and in several areas there are more than one line possible—but generally only one will be the fastest for the following sections. In spite of this, riders were allowed only one hour practice in each class, before they held time trials to determine starting positions in the 250cc Grand Prix. The really good riders spent most of this hour cruising slowly, to determine the best lines, rough spots, and possible alternate lines to use in traffic.

Time trials saw the riders on the track in groups of 12, riding for 20 minutes, with each lap for each rider timed. The fastest lap would count for starting positions. When the last 10 or 11 riders were on the line, it was determined that a few riders who wished to time trial again would be allowed to do so. Pierre Karsmakers, for instance, had bent a shift lever during his first trial, and spent most of the 20 minutes back in the pits. So only nine riders were sent out for time trials, while the rest would have to wait until the small group went out for their second run. Perhaps Bryar Holcomb was the only rider who didn’t get out for his first run until the group went out for their second. And he had a legitimate beef. His complaint was that since he wasn’t allowed on the track for his first trial, if he had problems on that run, he wouldn’t have a second chance.

One thing was noticeable all weekend, but even more so with only 12 bikes on the track; the Suzukis were not running mufflers, while everyone else was. Because FIM regulations were in force, they were not mandatory, but the Suzukis consistently caused actual physical pain in the ears of those near the track, and they were the only bikes to do so. Since they never were in contention, one could be excused for wishing they had stayed home.

Pierre Karsmakers took the opportunity, after time trials, to practice starts from various points along the start line, to determine the best place. For unlike a dirt track, a single row start is the rule in motocross, and the riders are allowed to go to the line one at a time, in the order in which they qualified, and choose their own starting slot.

The weather on Saturday had been really neat. There was plenty of sunshine, but a good breeze had kept it from being too hot, and the 30 percent chance of showers on Saturday never materialized. The forecast was for 60 percent chance of showers on Sunday, however, and riders all wished the rain would hold off until after the racing. This is one track where rain is never an advantage for anybody.

Saturday night all hell broke loose. With perhaps 10,000 people in Tent City across from the track, a lively time could have been in order, but the rain cancelled that possibility in a hurry. Thunder and lightning, obviously nearby, boomed from a black sky throughout the deluge. Forty days and forty nights later, on Sunday morning, the sky dawned clear and blue. It was going to be a nice day after all—and the heavy rain was just the ticket to hold down the dust; plus fill in a couple of small holes in the lower areas of the course, to provide a small challenge here and there. The only thing lacking in the makeup of the Unadilla course after such a rain is deep sand. Every other conceivable type of terrain is present, with a lot of rocks thrown in for good measure.

By the middle of the second time trial group, it looked like Antonin Baborovsky (C-Z) was the man to beat. It had looked that way throughout practice, also, and he has done well in the series. But Gary Jones cut his time by almost four seconds, for the first start slot. Baborovsky’s teammate, Jaroslav Falta, was 3rd, and the great hope of American Motocross, Jim Pomeroy, was 4th, followed by Pierre Karsmakers, Heikki Mikkola, and Bryar Holcomb, who needn’t have worried about his qualifying in the last wave, after all. Funny, how the race results never really resemble the qualifying results....

Officials decided that per FIM rules, there had to be a jury, composed of people from each nation represented. There was one Venezuelan rider, and they couldn’t find anybody from that country, but they did all right otherwise. Gunnar Lindstrom was recruited, totally unaware, and they went looking for others. “The Canadians have a jolly mechanic,” said one official. “That’s the best kind of jury member—a jolly one,” replied another.

The AMA referee here was John “Light Brown” Lancione. Very popular with the riders, he has the ability to enforce the rules, and make decisions, without getting people mad. He and Russ March, some 30 feet away from each other, were using the AMA walkietalkies to compare notes on Joe Annunziata’s wife, at one point. And Charlie Watson was there, as a spectator. He was even jovial, while talking about his bouts with Eastern Airlines’ baggage service. You could tell that this was Charlie Watson the person, not Charlie Watson the referee. But then he spotted an aluminum swinging arm on one of the Maicos, and he became Charlie Watson the referee again, for just a minute. He recalled reading the sign which forbids titanium frames or swinging arms, and aluminum or titanium handlebars. That automatically meant that aluminum swinging arms were taboo; at least that’s the way he thought, and went around calling other peoples’ attention to the violation—only to find out it was legal.

Heikki Mikkola took an early command on the day’s racing, followed closely for half the race by Antonin Baborovsky. Heikki then pulled a good lead, Jaroslav Falta passed his faltering teammate, and in the last two laps, narrowed the gap to Mikkola, who was never really in danger of losing his lead. Pierre Karsmakers finished 4th, and America’s wonder boy, Jim Pomeroy, recovered from an early spill to finish 5th. Gary Chaplin, Jimmy Weinert, Bob Grossi, Rich Eierstadt and Gary Semics rounded out the first 10. Grossi, who rode a 250cc Husky in this class, was credited by the AMA news release with winning the open support class on a Kawaskai. Having a brother can be a pain at times like these....

It was Bill Grossi who finished 2nd in the first support moto, behind Mike Hartwig. Another brother finished third—Ron Pomeroy, the younger brother of the best-placed yankee. Bob Harris was 4th. These four were also very much in contention during the second moto. Harris, due to be married the next day, won that one, followed by Pomeroy, who had been the early 3rd, and Bill Grossi. Hartwig was over a lap behind in that moto, so out of contention for the overall win.

The crowd went wild in the second moto of the G.P. class, as Gary Chaplin made use of the inside line in the first turn, to pull an early lead. By the end of the first lap, it was Chaplin, followed by Baborovsky, Mikkola, Gary Jones, and Falta. Things looked good for the home front. By now the sun was hot, and the early laps of this moto were very dusty. Pomeroy was back around 9th, but there were 40 minutes to go. By the fifth lap or so, Chaplin had been passed by the three Europeans, and Jones had dropped well back. Baborovsky had the lead, followed by Mikkola, Falta, Chaplin, Karsmakers, Pomeroy and Brad Lackey.

Heikki Mikkola took the lead around the seventh lap, and pulled away readily. Karsmakers got by Chaplin, then went down. Marty Tripes, who’d qualified nearly last, over half a minute down on his Honda teammate, was pushing Lackey hard, and finally got by. He then started pushing Pomeroy, who passed Chaplin. These four locked into a spirited duel for first American. But Chaplin dropped back, and Lackey didn’t come around. Tripes passed Pomeroy a short while later, then Baborovsky didn’t come around. Tripes was now 3rd, five seconds behind Falta, with Pomeroy an equal distance back in 4th.

Marty Tripes then did the impossible; he took the inside after “Screw U," and ^Actually passed Falta, for 2nd place. ^Pomeroy, who had hurt his back and shoulder in that first moto spill, would have been happy with 4th in this moto, for a possible 3rd overall. But the Gods of Motocross were not smiling on Jim. His Bultaco broke several laps from the end; it just quit running—electrical problems they thought. Mikkola had won both motos; his overall win also assured him the series championship. Falta combined a 2nd and a 3rd for 2nd overall. Tripes’ 2nd in the final moto meant nothing, since he hadn’t finished the first moto. Pierre Karsmakers recovered from his second moto spill to finish 4th, which combined with his 4th in the first moto for 3rd overall. Chaplin salvaged 5th in the second moto, for 4th overall, while Gary Semics finished right behind him .both in the final moto and

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•erall. Gary Jones finished behind mies in both motos, and overall, while Rich Eierstadt put together a 9th and a 10th for 7th overall. Rounding out the top 10 overall were Bob Grossi, Tim Hart and Seppo Makinen.

In the final support moto, Bill Grossi got the lead ahead of Harris and Ron Pomeroy. Any of the first three could still win overall, depending on how they finished in this one. Grossi stalled his bike, but managed to bump start it without even stopping, and held his lead to the end, for first overall. An exciting ride near the end put Bultaco rider Doug Grant into 2nd in this moto, but he had not completed the first moto. Harris copped 3rd in the final moto, for 2nd overall, followed in both cases by Ron Pomeroy.

That was the racing. Mr. Bruneel ^|emed favorably impressed, and it 4Pould appear that Unadilla will host a points-paying 250cc Grand Prix event next year. gj

UNADILLA RESULTS

1. Heikki Mikkola ................Hus 2. Jaroslav Falta ................. C-Z 3. Pierre Karsmakers ............. Yam 4. Gary Chaplin .................. Mai 5. Gary Semics ..................Hus 6. Gary Jones ...................Hon 7. Rich Eierstadt .................Hon 8. Bob Grossi....................Hus 9. Tim Hart .................... Yam 10. Seppo Makinen ................ C-Z

SUPPORT RESULTS

1. Bill Grossi ....................Kaw 2. Bob Harris .................... Mai 3. Ron Pomeroy ................. Bui 4. John Lee Dallaire .............. Mai 5. Gordon Ochs .................. Bui 6. Gary Ingham .................. Bui 7. David Clemence................ Bui 8. Joe Ferrini, Jr................. Yam 9. Unlisted rider ..................... 10. Joe Lennert .................. Yam

SERIES RESULTS

1. Heikki Mikkola I Pierre Karsmakers Jim Pomeroy Jaroslav Falta 5 Antonin Barborovsky 6 Marty Tripes 7 Brad Lackey 8 John DeSoto 9 Bob Grossi 10 Gary Chaplin